The Razor
by Octavia Delitian
Summary: Morrowind story based on the game book "Realizations of Acrobacy". Archmagister Gothren's POV. I wrote it to kickstart a longer plot that is still in the planning stage.


I re-wrote a game book called _Realizations of Acrobacy_ to kickstart a longer plot that is still in the planning stage. Most of the dialogue is directly from it, although I made some changes towards the end to accommodate for strange lore details. I also took some creative liberty with the plot, since otherwise it would have been a complete rip-off. So, I don't take credit for most and I am also not to blame for it either.

THE RAZOR

The battle between Gothren and Neloth had been going on for months now. It had all started with Neloth banning Gothren's Mouth from the council house and saying Gothren was not the legitimate archmagister, but _he_ was. He was older, had a bigger tower and lived in the council town. All that had nothing to do with how Telvanni usually counted merits, but since he thought himself in charge he had probably decided to change the rules. Gothren had answered immediately of course, and sent battlemages to lay siege on the town, but what had seemed like an easy battle had turned into a humiliating defeat after it was revealed that Neloth possessed Mehrunes' Razor, an ancient and coveted artifact that could inspire courage in anyone who wielded it. How he had gotten it was unknown, but now Gothren was the one under siege. He would be wiped out soon if he did not come up with a plan. He needed to clear his head for that sort of mental task, so when a traveling troupe of acrobats had suddenly appeared at his tower he had invited them to perform for him.

"Rhunen," Gothren murmured. "What kind of name is that for a Dunmer?"

"It is the name my dear mother gave me," the troupe leader said with a grin.

"What tricks can your troupe perform?" Gothren grabbed a goblet of shein from a tray and glanced at the mismatched group that mostly consisted of outlander elves. They even had a human female with them, a Redguard. He would have to keep her under close watch.

"Mighty Gothren, alas, we know no tricks. All the realizations of acrobacy we perform are real with no illusions. We wish we knew tricks, for it's far too time-consuming to have to master actual feats."

"Very well, what realizations of acrobacy can you perform?" This Rhunen fellow should not speak of illusions as mere tricks either. He could show them how real an illusion could feel, if they did not amuse him. This thought alone brightened his mood a bit. He took a sip of shein.

Master Rhunen must have taken his smile as encouragement, because now he turned even more flamboyant. "Master Jereth will dazzle you as he juggles fifteen flaming globes while hopping across broken glass. Master Tulkiande will astound you as she supports her body with one finger while rotating hoops in ornate patterns with her legs. Master Mearvis will take a simple ebony blade..."

"And the human female?" Gothren gestured towards the female.

"Master Senyndie? Ah, Mighty Gothren, she hails from the Alik'r Desert of Hammerfell where she won renown for her skill at climbing sheer surfaces. You must see her at work to believe it. She moves vertically like you and I move horizontally." Immediately Senyndie stepped forward and bowed for Gothren. Then she ran towards the wall and quite effortlessly ran up halfway to the ceiling, which was by no means low. Then she made a backflip, turned around in the air and landed smoothly on the floor.

"That is all very well, but I do _not _like outlanders in my court." Gothren shot a direct glance at the Redguard. "Many are spies." He watched her reaction closely as he said the words, but she did not reveal anything.

Rhunen shrugged. "Oh, well, Master Neloth felt similiarly that..."

"Neloth?" Gothren nearly dropped his goblet. "You entertained that whoreson?"

"Two days ago, yes. I remember that he said there have been strained relations between you two." Rhunen cleared his throat. "He also had some concerns about the outlanders in our troupe, though it was our Khajiit tumbler Master S'Rabba who he was particularly suspicious of. In fact, the irony is that he thought S'Rabba was a spy for you. Well, you know Khajiit. Actually, maybe you don't."

"They are a slave race who hold little interest to me." Neloth really thought that Gothren would send a Khajiit spy? Why, that imbecile was getting more senile by the moment. He really had to turn the odds against him and put him into place or it would be like having another Therana, only thinking he was the archmagister too. _And_ with an even worse temperament.

"You're like Master Neloth then." Gothren gasped at what was more than an insult, but the acrobat just continued to talk. "He wasn't used to Khajiit either. Or their dark sense of humor. He took some sarcastic comments from Master S'Rabba literally, and we _all_ ended up being tortured for information about you and your troops." Master Rhunen looked grimmer for every word. " You probably haven't had the experience of being tortured for information you don't have, _have_ you? I wouldn't recommend it. Eventually, we were let go on the understanding that we would never set foot in Sadrith Mora again. Actually, not _all_ of us were let go. Master S'Rabba had apparently died under torture. You have probably had experience torturing the slave races and know how easily they break."

Gothren gazed straight into Rhunen's blazing eyes. He supposed that he was expected to feel guilt, but it was really not his fault that Neloth was an idiot. He did feel a little pity though. "No, I haven't." What use would it be to torture a witless cat anyway? Neloth had to be stopped before his madness proceeded even further.

"We should have probably left then, but we decided that he still owed us for the _entertainment_we provided under torture. We weren't sure how to collect, but he mentioned during the course of his ravings that he had a very valuable bauble. A razor of some kind."

"Mehrunes' Razor!" Gothren flew up from his throne and walked up to Master Rhunen, who shied away in fear. Gothren stopped three paces away from him to show that he was not going to grab him and torture him for information about it. "What... what did you do?" He was shaking from an emotional rush that was very unlike him.

"Well... have a seat, Archmagister, and we will show you." Rhunen turned towards the troupe and gathered them for a quiet discussion. Gothren sat down on his throne again, impatient for them to reveal the information.

The troupe lined up and Master Rhunen stepped to the side, assuming a noble expression. "Masters Harakostil and Thelegorm compressed themselves low enough to squirm under the gates." An Altmer cartwheeled into the middle of the floor and gracefully got down on all fours, balancing on his toes and his elbows. Then a Bosmer stepped forward and crawled under him. "So they could lower the bridge into the main courtyard of the stronghold," Master Rhunen continued.

Bridges and courtyards? What were these silly outlanders rambling about? Gothren raised an eyebrow at them, but could not help enjoying the show.

"Masters Tulkiande, Mearvis, Jereth," for each name Rhunen mentioned, one acrobat got into a set position near the opposite wall, "and I formed a pyramid." Rhunen jumped up on the others' shoulders and fixed his eyes on the Redguard woman. "To give Master Senyndie a boost up to the tower of Tel Naga. " Senyndie started running towards them and climbed them smoothly. All gave her an extra push upwards as she continued to run up the wall at an amazing speed and did not stop running until she was hanging by her knees from a root in the ceiling. Gothren gaped and took a big gulp of shein.

"She scaled it to the top!" Rhunen cried.

"She scaled it?" Gothren breathed, imagining the nimble woman running up the walls of Tel Naga.

"It was high, but the surface of these Telvanni mushrooms is practically a ladder to someone of Master Senyndie's skills." Rhunen took an elegant leap and landed on the floor. "In a few minutes' time, she was in the room with the razor in hand. In a few more minutes, she was back down the tower and we were running for the Gateway Inn. Now, with all humility, I would say that no one is faster on their feet than our troupe, but Master Neloth's guards were surprisingly quick. I sent the troupe through the gate to the docks while I distracted the guards."

"I confess, I never associated brave actions with traveling acrobats."

"It wasn't bravery, it was economics," smiled Rhunen. "I considered the amount of gold and time it takes to train a good troupe, and it seemed smarter to try to save everyone. In any case, I lured the guards around to the back of the Gateway Inn, far from the others, and when I was sure they were safe..."

"Later, if you please." Gothren made an excusing gesture. "What happened then?"

"We arrived here at court."

"And when did Master Neloth get Mehrunes' Razor back from you?"

"Mighty Gothren, that part of the story hasn't happened yet," Rhunen said proudly. Senyndie, who was still hanging from the ceiling, grabbed hold of the root with her hands and pulled herself in an upright hanging position and dropped down. She landed soundlessly on the floor and straightened her back casually, facing Gothren directly. Suddenly she was holding the legendary dagger in her hand. _Assassin! _Gothren gasped and instantly cast a shield on himself while his summoned Dremora stepped into the way of the advancing woman.

"Mighty Gothren," she said. "I thought you wanted this?"

Gothren squinted at her. "I do." He swallowed and held out his hand through the barrier while keeping eye contact with the human. She presented Mehrunes' Razor to him, handle first, and he grasped it, careful not to let the blade cut her while she was still holding it. He felt the same rush of emotions as earlier, only more focused. He was not shaking or losing his composition. Just feeling the power of the item he held in his hand filled him with determination. Neloth was going down, right now.

"For our next act," Rhunen announced, "Master Mearvis takes a simple ebony blade and juggles it in one hand and a handful of marshmerrow reeds in the other. I don't want to give the whole effect away, but at the end of the act, you have some very fine sheets of papyrus."

"It sounds delightful, Master Rhunen," Gothren said, rising up from his throne with the dagger in his hand. "I look forward to seeing it in a few days time, but I must leave now to meet Master Neloth on the field. I will soon return for a victory celebration, and I want to see all your realizations of acrobacy. In the meantime, you will be honored guests with every luxury the Archmagister of House Telvanni can afford."


End file.
